Review: Socrates And His Clouds at the Jermyn Street Theatre

Socrates And His Clouds 

Jermyn Street Theatre

Reviewed on Thursday 6th June 2013

Socrates And His Clouds is, not surprisingly, a very European, specifically Greek, night of theatre. But don't be fooled by the weightiness of the title: this play does not take itself too seriously.

The play, written by William Lyons, adapts the ancient tale of Clouds by Aristophanes into the modern idiom, complete with contemporary references and humour. Socrates and his free-thinking ways are at the centre of the drama. With his head in the clouds, he unwittingly exposes an arrogant and idle son to new ideas and thoughts, specifically the skill of persuasion. With this new found skill he becomes able to stand his ground and feels able to supersede his father with horrific consequences.

The entire cast are excellent. Alexander Andreou shows a warm vulnerability in his Father Christmas-like portrayal of Socrates. Jack Montgomery as the cock-sure son is both funny and threatening. And Paul Hutton, who plays the dad and Everyman of the tale is loveably ignorant. Special mention must go to the chorus of three ladies (Riana Athanasiou, Lucyelle Cliffe, Rahil Liapopoulou) who perform well together whilst managing to retain individual personalities.

Melina Theocharidou's direction is clever and witty and, like the script, manages to combine the feel of a, at times, self-referential Greek play with an accessible modern style. The set is simple and effective and the opportunity for fun within the scene changes has not been missed. The original music by Olivios Karaolides did have some nice moments, but was mostly quite distracting.

This seriocomedy zips along and does not feel like a one act one-and-a-half hour show at all.

Reviewed by Ted McMillan

ted@westendframe.com 

Socrates And His Clouds runs at the Jermyn Street Theatre until 22nd June 2013.

Please visit www.jermynstreettheatre.co.uk for further information and tickets.

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